ExxonMobil, Chevron told to allow investor climate votes

March 24, 2016

The resolutions demand an 'annual assessment of long term portfolio impacts of public climate change policies'

US regulators have told ExxonMobil and Chevron to permit shareholders to vote on resolutions requiring assessments of how climate change policies might affect them, according to documents released Thursday.

The two oil giants had sought to persuade regulators to allow them to drop the resolutions, which are backed by environmentalists and employee retirement programs in California and New York.

The resolutions demand an "annual assessment of long term portfolio impacts of public climate change policies," including estimating the value of the companies' assets under global climate policies that could depress demand for oil and gas.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission ruled against the two oil giants, telling ExxonMobil in a March 22 letter that it disagreed with the company's view "that the proposal is so inherently vague or indefinite" that shareholders would be incapable of assessing it.

The SEC decision sets the stage for a shareholder vote on the resolution later this spring. The majority of ExxonMobil shareholders have previously sided with the company in prior climate resolutions.

"Based on the information you have presented, it does not appear that ExxonMobil's public disclosures compare favorably with the guidelines of the proposal," the SEC said. "Accordingly, we do not believe that ExxonMobil may omit the proposal."

The SEC issued a similar letter to Chevron.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, applauded the SEC decision as "a major victory for investors who are working to address the risks that global warming presents to our portfolios."

"Investors need to know if ExxonMobil is taking necessary steps to prepare for a lower carbon future, particularly now in the wake of the Paris agreement," DiNapoli said.

The SEC also refused to let ExxonMobil and Chevron delete a second climate resolution requiring them to boost capital distributions due to risk to the company's business from "stranded assets" that cannot be developed because of strict emissions limits.

An ExxonMobil spokesman said it will provide the board's position on the resolutions next month.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis said Thursday it had reached a deal with US authorities to pay $25 million (22.4 million euros) to settle claims that its Chinese units bribed healthcare professionals to boost sales, including with ...

An oil pipeline in northwestern US state Montana has ruptured and spilled crude oil into the Yellowstone River, a key tourist attraction in the region that runs through a famed national park, the pipeline operator acknowledged ...

Global climate models are essential for climate prediction and assessing the impacts of climate change across large areas, but a Dartmouth College-led team has developed a new method to project future climate scenarios at ...

Some of the largest pension funds in the U.S. and the world are worried that major fossil fuel companies may not be as profitable in the future because of efforts to limit climate change, and they want details on how the ...

Studying data from Twitter, University of Illinois researchers found that less people tweet per capita from larger cities than in smaller ones, indicating an unexpected trend that has implications in understanding urban pace ...

Unpacking groceries is a straightforward albeit tedious task: You reach into a bag, feel around for an item, and pull it out. A quick glance will tell you what the item is and where it should be stored.

A new online game puts players in the shoes of an aspiring propagandist to give the public a taste of the techniques and motivations behind the spread of disinformation—potentially "inoculating" them against the influence ...

It's a safe bet that some of the websites and apps you use collect and subsequently sell your personal data. But how can you know which ones? An EPFL researcher has led the development of a program that can answer that question ...